Gov’t to fetch 5,300 Filipinos in Sabah —Palace

The Philippines will begin on June 30 the repatriation of 5,300 Filipinos reportedly stranded in Sandakan, Sabah, Malacañang said Tuesday.

In a televised briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the repatriation will be in batches of 400 people with intervals of 15 days.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Bureau of Quarantine are the lead agencies for the repatriation efforts with Zamboanga City as the main processing area for returning Filipinos.

Sabah, which is rich in minerals and gas deposits, was annexed to Malaysia when it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1963.

Relations between Manila and Kuala Lumpur endured even after the Philippines, under then President Diosdado Macapagal, asserted its claim to Sabah in the 1960s. —LDF, GMA News